Social Change on Agenda at 2011 Arts in the One World Conference

Guillermo Gómez-Peña | Photo: X Tavera

How can the arts help bring about social and political change?

That’s the central question for artists and activists who will convene at CalArts later this week for the Arts in the One World Conference (AOW) (Jan. 27-29)—an annual interdisciplinary gathering hosted by CalArts’ School of Theater, in collaboration with the entire Institute.

Now in its sixth edition, AOW invites students, educators, change-makers and creative practitioners to “discuss and present on the ways artistic, political and social purposes intersect” through performances, lectures, conversations, workshops and installations.

The conference also serves as the local anchor of an ongoing artistic exchange CalArts conducts with the Interdisciplinary Genocide Studies Center (IGSC) in Rwanda, where each summer a group of students, faculty and professionals travel to Rwanda and Uganda, to study genocide and acts of mass violence, exploring the ways in which art participates in processes of renewal.

Here is a sampling of presentations on the conference program:

Approach and Observation: Hirokazu Kosaka

Artist, Buddhist priest, “Zen Archer” and artistic director of the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center, Hirokazu Kosaka shares strategies of creative observation that defy disciplinary definition and extend across generations of practice.

Multiple Journeys: the life and work of Gómez-Peña: Guillermo Gómez-Peña

The presentation invokes text and historical photographs to chronicle the performance art practice of post-Mexican writer, artist and activist Guillermo Gómez-Peña. By tracing his family life as well as his past 30 years in performance, visual and literary forms, the artist discusses his work in context of the larger evolution of the field, as well as of the main political and social events of the times.

24700 is CalArts' online space dedicated to sharing news and work of the larger CalArts community from around the world. The blog captures stories of the exploration of new forms and expressions in the arts by our students, faculty, staff and alumni.